Science Ticker Health & Medicine

Nanoparticle injection blocks breast cancer growth in mice

Nanoparticles (red) injected directly into mammary duct tissue (cell nuclei shown in blue and basement membrane shown in green) reduced tumor incidence by 75 percent in mice, a study shows. 

Marek Kowalski

By Ashley Yeager

A nanoparticle-based therapy delivered directly to the mammary ducts could potentially stop precancerous cells from becoming full-blown breast cancer. In mice, the treatment shut down a gene involved in unchecked cancer growth, researchers report January 1 in Science Translational Medicine.

About Ashley Yeager

Ashley Yeager is the associate news editor at Science News. She has worked at The Scientist, the Simons Foundation, Duke University and the W.M. Keck Observatory, and was the web producer for Science News from 2013 to 2015. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a master’s degree in science writing from MIT.

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